Friday, January 27, 2017

Film Review: Evolution

"Evolution" ** 1/2 (out of ****)

The
sea-side village, in the French movie “Evolution” (2015), is inhabited only by
young boys and women in their 30s. If there are young boys, why are there no
men? If there are women, why are there no young girls? Where are the elderly? There
are a lot of lingering questions in “Evolution”, few, if any, the movie has answers for

With another movie, the ambiguous nature of “Evolution” may
have detracted me more however, I don’t believe the movie is concerned with
narrative plot. The movie is about mood, emotions, tone and symbolism. I can’t
say I understand everything about the movie, it did have me scratching my head,
wondering, where is all of this going?

Directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, whose previous
directorial effort was “Innocence” (2004), which featured a cast of young girls
at a boarding school, “Evolution” can be interpreted as a story about
procreation, male adolescence and the bond between mother and son. In an
interview with the film magazine, Film Comment, Hadzihalilovic says the origin
of her story was about a mother that doesn’t want her child to grow up and
become a teenager.

In the first scene of the movie we are introduced to Nicolas
(Max Brebant, making his screen debut) a young boy, who while swimming notices
a starfish (a symbol of the movie’s reproductive theme) over the dead body of a
young boy at the bottom of the ocean’s floor. When he runs home to tell his
mother (Julie-Marie Parmentier) she doubts his story and upon her own
investigation claims to have only seen the starfish. Meanwhile Nicolas is
forced to eat wormlike grub and is constantly given medicine, as are all the
other boys in the village. After a violent outburst, Nicolas is taken to a
hospital, where he is sedated and operated on. He forms a friendship with one
of the nurses, Stella (Roxane Duran) and begins to question everything around
him. Is his mother really his mother? What is supposed to be wrong with his
health? What is in the food he eats and the medicine he takes?

Stella becomes a surrogate mother figure for Nicolas and
being a nurse (another use of symbolism), may also be Nicolas’ saving grace and
help explain the world around him.

Inspired by the movies of David Cronenberg and David Lynch, “Evolution”
has elements of science-fiction, mystery and horror all combined, creating a
genuinely eerie mood, due in part to the movie’s soundtrack (comprised of the
sound of waves from the ocean, birds and crickets) and sparse dialogue. Its
hospital setting also helps establish a sense of danger always lurking around,
treating the boys as if they are prey. However, the movie doesn’t follow the
typical conventions of the mystery genre, especially by not offering an
explanation of characters’ motives. Its subtle hints to a greater reveal of the
movie’s plot are too subtle and far too reliant on symbolism making the
experience feel unsatisfying, despite its many recommendable qualities.

Visually there is much to appreciate in “Evolution”.
Hadzihalilovic is a talented filmmaker but plot-wise “Evolution” feels too
reserved. It doesn’t make a grand statement. What does the director want the
audience to think as they leave the theater? The characters in the movie aren’t
people but instead plot devices. Then again, I must go back to the idea
“Evolution” isn’t interested in plot or characters. It is focused on mood and
symbolism. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s an evolving process.

About Me

Alex Udvary is a Chicago based freelance movie critic and commentator. He has contributed movie reviews for various newspapers and websites including the newspaper Chicago News, the Toledo Free Press, the Milwaukee Shepherd Express, the on-line film magazine The Big Picture and the website Third Coast Review as well as international publications such as The Budapest Times. He was an intern at Facets multimedia, the largest DVD distributor in the Mid-West, where he would do research and write plot descriptions for their catalog.